Investors bet QinetiQ will soar

By

Anna-Marie Hotte

January 25, 2006 5:00 pm GMT

UK defence technology group, QinetiQ, priced its flotation today to raise up to £629m (€915m) and value the company at £1.3bn. Cantor Index, the spread betting firm, said the shares immediately traded in the grey market at the top of the 165p to 205p bookbuilding range.

The company said today that there would be no formal retail offer and that the issue would be sold to institutions and the QinetiQ employees through Credit Suisse, JP Morgan and Merrill Lynch.